E-mail filtering services using Internet protocol routing information

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are methods of managing the delivery, including in certain cases the blocking, of electronic messages based at least in part on an electronic message&#39;s IP routing information. Also disclosed are methods of managing electronic messages with an intermediate service and the quarantining and user management of quarantined electronic messages and user profiles for the electronic messaging delivery parameters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/672,688,filed Sep. 26, 2003, pending, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 09/675,609, filed Sep. 29, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,890,issued Nov. 18, 2003, which is commonly assigned with the presentapplication and incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF ACTIVITY

Disclosed embodiments herein relate generally to electronic messaging,and more particularly to value-added electronic messaging services andtechniques for the filtering of e-mails.

BACKGROUND

The adoption of e-mail has occurred at an unprecedented pace. Of routinecomputer users, most now have or soon will have an e-mail address. Manyhave more than one e-mail address, e.g., one for work and another forhome. E-mail offers unparalleled convenience of written communication.

Besides ubiquitous e-mail, another powerful trend is wireless access viaa variety of wireless devices, e.g., cell phones, pagers, hand-heldcomputers such as Palm and Windows CE devices, etc. Service-specifice-mail gateways allow an e-mail message to be sent from the Internet toa particular wireless device. In the case of a Sprint PCS phone, forexample, an e-mail may be addressed to #@sprintpcs.com, where #represents the telephone number of the phone. Despite this capability,wireless messaging is greatly complicated by the fact that a person mayhave multiple wireless devices, and that at a given time, the sender hasno way of knowing the person's whereabouts or preferred method ofmessage delivery at that time, let alone the address specificspertaining to each gateway.

For example, the person may be in the office, in which case desktope-mail would be preferred, on the road staying at a hotel, in which casecell phone e-mail might be preferred, or on the road away from a majormetropolitan area, in which case pager e-mail (which has nationwidecoverage in the US) might be preferred. This situation, referred toherein as the “multiple e-mail box conundrum,” is illustrated in FIG. 1.An intended recipient B of an electronic message may receive electronicmessages through one or more wired devices and/or one or more wirelessdevices, which may include some or all of the following: an InternetService Provider (ISP) mail account, a free web mail account, a PDA mailaccount, a cell phone subscription, and a pager subscription. In eachinstance, e-mail is delivered through a different server or gatewayconnected to the Internet, i.e., a ISP mail server, a portal mailserver, a PDA mail server, a cellular gateway and a paging gateway. Amessage originator A may, at various times, use some or all the devicesmentioned to send an electronic message. In the multiple e-mail boxconundrum, the message originator needs to know which e-mail address touse to reach the user. In turn, the recipient must monitor all accountsand devices to keep track of critical information. Furthermore, in thecase of a wireless network gateway, the wireless gateway will typicallystrip off any e-mail attachments, usually without any notification tothe user.

Note that, in FIG. 1, wired devices may be stand-alone or LAN-based. Inthe case of stand-alone devices, connection to the Internet is typicallydial-up access through an ISP. In the case of a LAN-based device, aserver on the LAN may be connected to the Internet through an ISP ordirectly to the Internet without the involvement of an ISP.

Neither ISPs nor wireless providers are well-positioned to offer acomplete solution to the electronic messaging problem. ISPs areprimarily focused on new customer acquisition and often do not haveenough users to attract wireless partners. In the case of wirelessproviders, users are generally unwilling to switch their primary e-mailaddress. And wireless vendors are generally unable to integrate withexisting e-mail services.

With the widespread adoption of e-mail, there has also occurred theproliferation of junk e-mail, or “spam.” Currently, of the hundreds ofmillions of e-mail messages sent each day, about 30% of those messagesmay be expected to be junk e-mail. FIG. 2 illustrates “spamming” of theuser of FIG. 1. Various companies have addressed the problem of junke-mail by providing e-mail filtering software that attempts to identifyand discard junk e-mail. Typically, such software resides on adestination e-mail server. Such a solution does not scale well; i.e.,installing and maintaining e-mail filtering software on e-mail serversgrows increasingly difficult as the number of e-mail servers multiplies.

Because of the resources required to install and maintain an e-mailserver, various companies have emerged offering e-mail outsourcing inwhich the e-mail server is provided by a third party outside theorganization. E-mail outsourcing off-loads the responsibility forproviding and maintaining e-mail service without necessitating anychange in domain or e-mail addresses. E-mail is retrieved from anoff-site e-mail server provided and maintained by the e-mail outsourcingcompany. Despite such arrangements, the multiple e-mail box conundrumand the junk e-mail problems remain.

Accordingly, a need exists for a scalable, transparent solution to thejunk e-mail problem. Also, a need exists for a unified messagingsolution, embracing wireless messaging, that addresses the foregoingdrawbacks of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed is a method for enrolling users of an e-mail entity in anelectronic messaging service in which electronic messages are deliveredfrom sending servers to destination servers through electronic messagedelivery paths. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by inserting anintermediate server into an electronic message delivery path ahead of adestination server by changing a Domain Name Server (DNS) entryassociated with the destination server.

The e-mail entity users' junk e-mails are posted to a user-accessiblemessage center website where they are kept for a period of time, and theusers are allowed to edit user profiles to govern the handling of theusers' messages by the electronic messaging service. Disclosedembodiments provide for self-enrollment by the e-mail entity with theelectronic messaging service by inserting the intermediate server in theelectronic message delivery path by changing its DNS entry associatedwith at least one of the entity's destination servers to point to theintermediate server. The method may also provide for automated assent toterms and conditions, specifying billing information, and designatingthe service start and stop dates. Also described are methods by whichusers can be enrolled with the messaging service.

Further described are methods by which an electronic messaging servicemay perform value-added processing on the electronic message, apply theuser-selected junk e-mail filters on the electronic message, apply theuser-selected virus checkers for checking the electronic message andattachments in the electronic message, block junk e-mails based oncontent and IP routing information, deliver normal “clean” e-mails tothe user's e-mail server, and hold “suspected” e-mails in a quarantinearea where notifications are generated and sent to the users therebyallowing user disposition of the e-mails in the quarantine summary uponaccessing the message center website.

In yet another aspect, provided is a method for the users of the e-mailentity to customize and configure an initial default user profileassigned by the provider of the electronic messaging service. Inaddition to utilizing the default user profile provided, the users alsohave the ability to configure value-added services such as junk e-mailfiltering and virus checking, control message delivery, and designateparticular e-mail server as their main e-mail system.

In yet a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for theprovider of the electronic messaging service to automatically generate aquarantine summary based on content and IP information, apply the userspecified value-added services from the user profile, and allow theusers to view quarantined e-mails in the quarantine summary in anautomatically generated electronic message delivered to the userswithout the users having to access the messaging center website.

The foregoing has outlined preferred and alternative features of variousembodiments of the disclosed principles so that those skilled in the artmay better understand the detailed description that follows. Additionalfeatures will be described hereinafter that form the subject of theclaims appended herein. Those skilled in the art should appreciate thatthey can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodimentsas a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying outthe same purposes of the disclosed principles. Those skilled in the artshould also realize that such equivalent constructions do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosed principles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed principles may be further understood from the followingdescription in conjunction with the appended drawings. It is emphasizedthat various features may not be drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensionsof various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarityof discussion. In addition, it is emphasized that some components maynot be illustrated for clarity of discussion. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the multiple e-mail box conundrum;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating “spamming” of the user of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of one embodiment of a unified message deliverysystem;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the intermediateserver(s) of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5A is a more detailed block diagram of one embodiment of the serverof FIG. 4;

FIG. 5B is an alternate diagram of one embodiment of the server of FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment showing a configurationscreen display that may be used to configure the unified messagedelivery system; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram emphasizing end user configuration and mailprocessing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 3, a diagram is shown of one embodiment of aunified message delivery system. The system provides for a service thatallows the user to define where messages are routed across multipledevices, which portions of messages are routed to which devices, etc.The system allows for ready integration with an end-user's primarye-mail service and is end-user configurable.

As compared to FIG. 1, in which the electronic message delivery pathproceeds through the Internet directly to one of a multiplicity ofservers or gateways, in the system of FIG. 3, an intermediatepre-processing service 301 is inserted into the message delivery path.The intermediate pre-processing service 301 preferably comprises an NOCincluding an array of mail handling machines, a database, a file store,web servers and utility machines. The intermediate pre-processingservice 301 is in turn connected to the various servers and gateways ofFIG. 1, including, for example, a user's primary ISP 303, if any. Suchconnection typically also occurs through the Internet (305). Thecollection of servers and gateways 307 provide e-mail access for avariety of wired and wireless client devices 309, which may include, forexample, a main e-mail system (typically a home or office desktopcomputer), a free web-based mail system (e.g., Yahoo or the like), a PDA(e.g., Palm VII), a cell phone and a pager. A typical user will use twoor more of the foregoing electronic message delivery options and someusers will use most or all of these options.

By established user-defined preferences, the user is able to control theflow of messages to the various devices. Preferences are configuredusing web browser software to create or modify a user profile. Userprofiles are stored in a relational database (not shown) accessible tothe intermediate pre-processing service. Note that end-userconfiguration may occur via any web-enabled device, either wired orwireless. Wireless web access may be supported using technologiespresently-known in the art such as Palm's “web clipping” technologies,the UPLink server suite of Phone.com of Redwood City, Calif., WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP)-enabled cellphones, etc.

To take a concrete example, there may be three e-mail messages deliveredto the intermediate pre-processing service 301 for a particular user, anurgent message, a message from the user's boss, and a message from theuser's friend. In this example, the e-mail from the user's friend mightbe delivered to the user's main e-mail system and to the user's free webmail system. The e-mail from the user's boss might be delivered to theuser's PDA. The urgent message might be delivered to the user's cellphone and to the user's pager.

FIG. 3 illustrates the different manner of operation of the messagedelivery system of FIG. 3, including the intermediate pre-processingservice 301, as compared to the conventional electronic message deliverypath of FIG. 1. Say, for example, that user A, (e.g., Sue@standford.edu)wishes to send an e-mail to user B (e.g., Tom@aol.com). Sue uses ane-mail program to create, address and send the e-mail. The mail is sentfrom Sue's computer to the local mail server for Sue's computer, whichmay reside on Sue's local area network or at an ISP. The local mailserver queries a Domain Name Server (DNS) 311 to obtain the IP addressfor Tom@aol.com. Normally, the local mail server uses the IP addressreturned by DNS to send the e-mail to the destination e-mail server forTom's computer, (e.g., mail.aol.com). The e-mail is then delivered toTom's computer.

In one embodiment of the present system, the normal electronic messagedelivery path is broken and the intermediate pre-processing service 301is inserted into the electronic message delivery path. This result iseasily accomplished by modifying the appropriate DNS record (such as theMX—mail exchange—record, for example) to point to the intermediatepre-processing service 301 instead of the destination e-mail server(e.g., 303). In this manner, the electronic message delivery path ismodified such that the intermediate pre-processing service 301 handlesall of the electronic messages that would otherwise have been handled bythe destination e-mail server.

Given the ease with which the intermediate pre-processing service may beinserted into the message delivery path, the enrollment of ISPs incooperative messaging service agreements with the operator of theintermediate pre-processing service (Electronic Messaging ServiceProvider, or EMSP) may be automated to a great extent. For example, theISP may visit the web site of EMSP, indicate assent to terms andconditions, and specify billing information and a service start date.

Prior to the service start date, the ISP advises subscribers andarranges for its DNS entries to be modified appropriately as of theservice start date.

Prior to the start date, users are advised by e-mail of additionalavailable message center services. Each user is assigned a user name andpassword in order to access a message center web site. When the userfirst visits the message center web site, the user creates a profilethat will be used thereafter to select and configure value-added service(e.g., junk e-mail filtering and virus checking) and to control messagedelivery. Within the profile, the user may designated a particulare-mail server as the user's main e-mail system. Profiles place users incontrol of their mail experience. Alternatively, A service provider cancreate a default profile of services and the user can visit the messagecenter web site to modify the default configuration.

When the intermediate pre-processing service 301 receives an e-mail, itlook ups the addressee's user profile. The intermediate pre-processingservice then performs value-added processing of the message. Forexample, the intermediate pre-processing service may apply user-selectedjunk e-mail filters and user-selected virus checkers for checkingattachments. Junk-e-mail blocking may be based on both content and IProuting information. “Clean” e-mail is delivered to the user's mailserver as normal. Suspect messages, instead of being deleted withoutnotification to the user, is held in a quarantine area, and the user isnotified. The user can then, if desired, download messages flagged assuspect by accessing the message center web site.

Alternatively or in addition, the intermediate pre-processing servicemay deliver to the message to one or more wireless devices in accordancewith the user profile, e.g., by forwarding the message to one or moreservers or gateways 307 the addresses of which have been specified bythe user in the user's profile. Prior to forwarding the message to aserver or gateway, the intermediate pre-processing service 301 mayperform any necessary reformatting to meet the requirements of aparticular recipient device.

In general, a user may configure an arbitrary number of communication“channels,” each channel including a destination and, optionally, one ormore message modification procedures including filters, reformatters,etc. that may affect message presentation, be required for messagetransport, etc.

The intermediate pre-processing service 301 may perform myriad othertypes of services. One example of such services involves certainattachments, e.g., rich media items such as MP3, JPEG, MPEG, etc. Suchitems are notorious “bandwidth hogs” and can easily clog up the messagedelivery system. Rather than simply delete such items, however, theintermediate pre-processing service 301 allows such items to beintelligently managed. One option is to treat rich media in like manneras junk e-mail. That is, rich media items, instead of being deliveredwith the e-mail messages to which they are attached, are delivered tothe message center web site, and the user is notified. The user can thenview/play or ignore the items as desired.

Another option is to produce replacement attachments, i.e., “thumbnail”versions of the rich media items. An option may be provided for theoriginal full attachment(s) to be delivered to the user with asubsequent system-generated e-mail message. For example, a link may beembedded in the thumbnail along with appropriate text advising the userto click on the link to receive the full attachment. In one embodiment,clicking on the link takes the user to a complete, high-resolution imageresiding in the user's personal message center.

Note that the functionality of the intermediate pre-processing servicemay be implemented at ISPs rather than at a central NOC without anysacrifice of functionality or any noticeable effect on the end user. Inthis instance, DNS information remains unchanged. In this scenario,however, ISPs must be persuaded to invest in additional hardware and/orsoftware.

Referring to FIG. 4, a generalized block diagram is shown of oneembodiment of the intermediate pre-processing service 301 of FIG. 3. Oneor more messaging servers 401, e.g., e-mail servers, are provided,realizing a receive and store function 403 and a forward function 405.The forward function incorporates various value-added services such asfiltering, formatting, routing, multicasting, etc. Due to themulticasting feature of the forward block 405, a single incoming messagemay result in the forwarding of some greater number of outgoingmessages.

The forward block 405 communicates with storage 407, which may includeone or more relational databases or file servers. Storage 407 includesprofile and local DNS information 409 for each subscriber, as well as a“quarantine” area 411 for storing filtered messages, e.g., messagesdetermined to be unfit to forward. Subscribers are provided access tostorage 407 through one or more web servers 413, allowing subscribers toconfigure their profiles, view filtered messages, etc.

Referring to FIG. 5A, a more detailed block diagram is shown of theintermediate pre-processing service 301 in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the invention. Multiple hosts are defined on both theinbound mail server and the outbound mail server. Each host runs a copyof an appropriate mail program such as FreeBSD Qmail. In one alternateembodiment, a machine or a cluster of machines operates as amail-receiving machine and a mail-delivering machine. This machine willaccept a connection from a sending SMTP server and begin receiving data.Simultaneously, the machine will begin receiving the message data,querying the database for a specific user configuration, processingmessages based on configuration, opening a connection to a receivingSMTP server, and delivering it. Standard mail server software is notrequired for this alternate embodiment.

Incoming mail is routed to an available host by a load balancer 505, orload-sharing switch/router, of a type commonly available from Cisco andother network equipment manufacturers. The server cluster 501 caninclude a server running a relational database management system such asOracle, for example. The host queries the database to identify the userand user preferences. The host then processes the message as specifiedin the user profile. For spam checking, each host runs a copy of anappropriate spam filter. Virus checking can be done using a virusscanning application such as that available from Trend.

Good e-mails are addressed with one or more addresses in accordance withinformation specified in the user profile and sent to the outbound mailserver cluster to be sent out. To deliver a message addressed touser@isp.com, our intermediate preprocessing lookup service looks upuser@postini-mail.isp.com and delivers. This allows the ISP to updatethe final delivery location without requiring the intermediatepreprocessing service to make any changes. The e-mail is sent to the ISPmail server 511 and possibly to other servers or gateways in accordancewith the user profile.

Bad e-mails are saved “in quarantine” on a message center web site, anda notification e-mail is sent to the user. In the illustratedembodiment, the inbound mail server cluster is connected to a file store521. The file store is in turn connected to a web server 523. When auser logs on to the web server, a web page is displayed that includes alink for displaying a summary of quarantined messages and/orattachments. By clicking on a selected item, the user is able to viewthe item and, depending on the attachment type, may be able to view theattachment. If the user so chooses, the user may be allowed to downloadan item suspected to contain a virus after the user has been givenappropriate warning.

FIG. 5B shows an alternate diagram of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a web form screen display that may be filledout by the user to configure message delivery for that user andsubsequently modified to modify the configuration. In the example shown,a subsequent screen display is shown after one of the mail filter itemsis selected.

In accordance with a further feature of the invention, devices may beprovided with a background software routine that periodically notifiesthe messaging system, automatically, of the time of last user input tothe device. This information may be used to dynamically route messagesto increase the likelihood of early receipt by the user. For example, auser may specify messages to normally be delivered to the user'scellphone between the hours of 8-9 AM, 12-1 PM and 6-7 PM, and to theuser's work between the hours of 9-12 AM and 1-6 PM, in accordance withthe user's normal routine. On a particular afternoon, however, the usermay be away from the office and may have used his/or her cellphone toreceive or make one or more calls, or to access information, etc. If theuser has selected a “find me” configuration option, then this usageinformation may be used to intelligently route messages to the user'scellphone, for example.

The value-added electronic messaging system detailed in the foregoingdescription provides an elegant solution to the multiple e-mail boxconundrum. User-centric in design, the system is end-user configurableand uses an intuitive web metaphor. Based on a scalable architecture,the system works with existing e-mail accounts and does not requirehardware or software integration.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of one embodiment of the system of the presentinvention emphasizing end user configuration and mail processing.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art thatsystems and methods employing the disclosed principles can be embodiedin other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacter thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are thereforeconsidered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. Thescope of the disclosed principles is indicated by the appended claimsrather than the foregoing description, and all changes that come withinthe meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embracedtherein.

Additionally, the section headings herein are provided for consistencywith the suggestions under 37 CFR 1.77 or otherwise to provideorganizational cues. These headings shall not limit or characterize theinvention(s) set out in any claims that may issue from this disclosure.Specifically and by way of example, although the headings refer to a“Technical Field,” the claims should not be limited by the languagechosen under this heading to describe the so-called technical field.Further, a description of a technology in the “Background” is not to beconstrued as an admission that technology is prior art to anyinvention(s) in this disclosure. Neither is the “Brief Summary” to beconsidered as a characterization of the invention(s) set forth in theclaims found herein. Furthermore, any reference in this disclosure to“invention” in the singular should not be used to argue that there isonly a single point of novelty claimed in this disclosure. Multipleinventions may be set forth according to the limitations of the multipleclaims associated with this disclosure, and the claims accordinglydefine the invention(s), and their equivalents, that are protectedthereby. In all instances, the scope of the claims shall be consideredon their own merits in light of the specification, but should not beconstrained by the headings set forth herein.

1. A method of managing the delivery of electronic messages from sendinge-mail servers to destination e-mail servers, the method comprising:receiving an electronic message sent from a sending e-mail server;examining IP routing information associated with the electronic message;and deciding whether to block delivery of the electronic message atleast in part based on the examination of the IP routing information andmessage content.
 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the receiving,examining, and deciding are done in an intermediate service interposedbetween the sending e-mail server and a destination e-mail server.
 3. Amethod according to claim 1 and further comprising placing the blockedelectronic message in quarantine at a message center website.
 4. Amethod according to claim 3 wherein the message center website isuser-accessible.
 5. A method according to claim 2 wherein for adelivered electronic message, the intermediate service is furtheroperable to provide one or more value-added services selected from thegroup consisting of: reformatting the delivered messages; routing themessages to users' wireless e-mail addresses; multicasting the deliveredmessages to multiple addresses; flagging the delivered messages as“suspect”; removing rich media items from the delivered messages; andproviding a thumbnail representations of delivered messages' rich mediaitem.
 6. A method according to claim 2 and further comprising providinga user profile accessible to a user through which the user is able toconfigure the intermediate service for the control of the user's messagedelivery.
 7. A method according to claim 6 and further comprising theintermediate service looking up the user's profile upon receipt of anelectronic message addressed to the user and processing the electronicmessage according to the user's profile.
 8. A method according to claimI and further comprising enrolling an e-mail entity responsible for adestination e-mail server with an electronic messaging servicecomprising an intermediate service by inserting the intermediate serviceinto the electronic message delivery path ahead of the destinationserver by changing a DNS entry associated with the destination server topoint to the intermediate service.
 9. A method according to claim 8,wherein the e-mail entity self-enrolls itself with the electronicmessaging service by inserting the intermediate service in theelectronic message delivery path by changing its DNS entry associatedwith at least one destination server to point to the intermediateservice.
 10. A method according to claim 8, wherein the enrollmentbetween the e-mail entity and the provider of the electronic messagingservice comprises tasks selected from the group consisting of:automating assent to the terms and conditions; specifying billinginformation; and designating electronic messaging service start and stopdates.
 11. A method according to claim 8, wherein the e-mail entity isan Internet Service Provider.
 12. A method according to claim 1, whereinthe IP routing information comprises an IP source address.
 13. A methodof managing the delivery of electronic messages from sending e-mailservers to destination e-mail servers, the method comprising: receivingin an intermediate service an electronic message sent from a sendinge-mail server to a receiving e-mail server; examining in theintermediate service IP routing information associated with theelectronic message; deciding whether to block delivery of the electronicmessage at least in part based on the examination of the IP routinginformation and message content.
 14. A method according to claim 13, andfurther comprising placing the electronic message in quarantine at auser-accessible message center website if it is decided to blockdelivery of the electronic message.
 15. A method according to claim 13wherein the deciding whether to block the electronic message is alsobased at least in part on examining the message content.
 16. A methodaccording to claim 13, wherein the IP routing information comprises anIP source address.